A Good Judge of Character
by LuxaLucifer
Summary: When Sirius escaped from Azkaban, he didn't realize he wouldn't be the only one who had suffered those last twelve years. It's never more obvious then when he shares an apartment with Remus and sees firsthand the prison he lives in.


Disclaimer- I don't own it.

I'm a Remus/Sirius shipper, but I really don't think there's any in here. Just a plot that's been stuck in my head for a while.

Enjoy! :)

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It was with a feigned indifference that Sirius watched Remus frantically collect old parchment, rolls of bandages, and threadbare shirts, hiding most of it in his single, overflowing closet. Every times Sirius saw evidence of his friend's poverty he felt a pang of misery, for it was one of the things he had dwelled on in Azkaban. James and Lily's death, Peter the betrayer, Harry orphaned, and leaving Remus all alone. That's what played over and over in his mind. But seeing the proof was even worse than his imagination.

"I can't believe Dumbledore," muttered Remus. "He knows I'm...what my place is like. I can't believe he wants to have the first Order meeting here."

"I'm sorry, Remus," said Sirius quietly. Remus paused in his attempt to transfigure his sagging, creaking sofa into something a little nicer.

"What are you sorry for, Padfoot?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"It's because of me that Dumbledore wants to have the meeting here. He doesn't want me to go outside and risk being seen."

Sirius looked out his window to hide the tears of frustration that were threatening to spill. The sigh of London's worst slums didn't make him feel any better.

"Sirius, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault I live in such a shithole."

Remus' odd tone made Sirius look back at his friend. Remus was gazing around his apartment as though he was seeing it for the first time. The torn carpeting, the nearly nonexistent built-in soundproofing, the mysterious stains. Sirius had had several intelligent conversations with at least three species of cockroach, but he wasn't about to tell Remus about that now.

Remus looked mournfully at his end table. "That's a tranfigured cardboard box, you know. McGonagall will be able to tell."

"Don't worry, Remus, I'll distract her with my charms," grinned Sirius, and Remus stopped being miserable long enough to laugh, and for one brief moment everything was good again.

"I got this apartment with my Hogwarts paycheck," said Remus suddenly. "I paid for a whole year at once. I knew...there's this new legislation that just passed..."

Remus was interrupted from his pained confession by a rap on the door. He opened it just in time for Mad-Eye Moody to hobble in.

"Oh, Alastor," he said, trying to sound normal. "You're early."

Mad-Eye's eyes whizzed around in its socket, examining the walls before settling on Sirius. "I'm glad to see you were innocent. Thought that mad hunt was a bit much."

Mad-Eye turned to Remus. "Got any charms on this place?"

Remus looked relieved that he had been asked this before anyone else arrived. "A few. Soundproofing ones, and a couple to stop the leaking. It's an old building..."

"I can tell," said Mad-Eye gruffly. From the look on Remus' face, even he seemed to feel bad and added, "I mean, most buildings in London are."

"Why didn't you Floo?" asked Sirius, yawning and wondering if he should move from his spot in Remus' old armchair. It was the same armchair Remus had had since he was twenty, and Sirius was glad to resume his old habit of falling asleep in it.

"I like to check out the perimeters of a place, get to know the layout," grunted Mad-Eye, stomping around and casing protection spells here and there. Remus watched him do this for a minute before resuming his attempt to improve his sofa.

"Wouldn't bother," said Mad-Eye in-between spells. "Looks like that thing has maxed out on improvement spells. It's held together by willpower now."

"Don't remind me."

"Look, boy, you've done the best you can with what you have, so stop looking like you ate a Kneazle."

Remus smiled a little and nodded shortly. Just then, the cracked, dusty fireplace burst into green flames, and Arthur Weasley stepped out. He was sortly followed by his wife, Molly Weasley. Sirius mostly remembered her as the one who had shrieked in the Hogwarts infirmary.

Arthur ignored the shabby surroundings and shook Remus' hand firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin. I'm Arthurt Weasley. Our sons have said some very good things about you. Seem to be at least four of our childrens' favorite professor."

Sirius didn't think he'd seem Remus so happy since he'd gotten out of Azkaban. That was, until Molly whispered something into Arthur's ear, her expression pinched. Sirius was too far away to hear it, but Remus apparently wasn't, because he looked like he had been punched in the gut. His smile to Molly was rather strained.

"Molly Weasley," she said, her voice rather too high pitched. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Remus Lupin," he said calmly. Too calmly. Sirius wanted to turn into a dog right them and lick Remus's face until those tight lines softened.

Molly looked around for something to do, but all she saw was her husband standing next to her awkwardly and Mad-Eye muttering out loud in a corner.

The Floo roared into life and some Sirius had never seen before in his life stepped out. By the look on Remus' face, he hadn't either. He was a large, tall, bald black man who appraised the small living room without a trace of expression.

"Good afternoon, I am Kingsley Shacklebolt. This is the meeting room for the Order of the Phoenix, correct? Where could I find a Mr. Remus Lupin?"

"That would be me," said Remus quickly. "Please, um, relax until everyone gets here."

Molly cleared her throat. "Would you like me to make something to eat? It might be nice."

Now Remus looked _really_ uncomfortable. "I'm afraid I don't have enough..."

Molly reached to pat his hand but recoiled quickly. "Don't be silly. I'll make some cookies to share."

She bustled off to the kitchen, which Remus hadn't had time to clean, and Remus looked like he was trying not to press his face in his hands and cry. Sirius extracted himself from the chair and said to Remus, as quiet as he could, "You don't have the ingredients for cookies, do you?"

"Not even one."

They shared a morbid smile as the Floo burned once again. Remus cast it a worried look. "I hope they don't all Floo in...I'm only allowed to have a certain amount of people come in a day..."

It took a moment for Sirius to digest this, but when he did he felt his insides churn. "Wait, what?"

"I guess the Ministry doesn't want us half-breeds to plan revolts in our homes or something," he replied, and the carelessness in which Remus replied was the worst part. He stepped forward to greet a short, squat man that Sirius couldn't quite place.

"Mudungus," said Remus warmly. "It's been a while."

Mundungus Fletcher laughed. "Yeah, since you got me out of that spot with the talking canaries." He sat on the sofa without qualms, having spent his life in apartments equal or worse to this one.

Molly Weasley emerged from the kitchen. Remus didn't see her at first, so she reached one finger out and tapped him on the shoulder quite lightly.

Remus started, only to find that it was her. "Couldn't find the ingredients?" he said apologetically.

She nodded and said, "Would you mind if I brought summoned them from my house? I think we could all use some cookies."

Bewlidered, Remus nodded his agreement.

Sirius jumped up and answered the door when he heard a sharp rap against the wood. He opened it to find a wizard he remembered from his old Order days, Dedalus Diggle, and an unfamiliar woman who introduced herself as Hestia Jones. Neither looked surprised to see a supposed mass-mmurderer answer the door, so he assumed Dumbledore had told them. That, or _they _were mass-murderers.

Another person arrived via Floo, and Remus looked even more worried. "I don't believe I know you..." he said over the hum of people socializing.

The new man smiled. "Sturgis Podmore. And you're..."

"Lupin, Remus Lupin."

Podmore's smiled wavered, and his handshake was very short. Sirius closed his eyes and wished them all away, so he could hug Remus and try and make him feel better. Podmore struck up a conversation with Arthur, shirting his feet nerviously on the old carpet.

There were two more people by Floo, and Sirius desperately hoped that it wasn't over whatever absurd limit the Ministry had set. He sent Remus a look that asked the same question, who gave him a relived nod.

The new arrivals were Elphias Doge and Emmeline Vance, who both gave Remus uncomfortable looks when he introduced himself and stood in a huddled corner, eyeing the flat with ill-concealed distaste.

There was a knock on the door, and Remus opened it to find a breathless Arabella Figg.

"Took a bus," she panted. "And climbed the stairs. "Hope I'm not late."

"No, Dumbledore hasn't even arrived yet," said Remus, welcoming her in. "It's been a while. How've you been?"

"Good, good. The cats are good too, before you ask."

They smiled at each other, Squib and werewolf, and Sirius knew they must have found solace in their mutual handicaps.

Sirius figured he could talk to Mundungus without awkward questions, but Mundungus gave an awful squawk when he approached. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.

"Y-You're Sirius B-Black! I may be a thief, but I ain't no m-"

"Didn't anyone tell you that I'm innocent?" asked Sirius impatiently, sitting on the couch next to him. This wasn't turning out to be a good day.

Mundungus peered at him and relaxed slightly. "Oh, in that case..."

Sirius and Mundungus were in the midst of a good conversation about the legality of bewitching normal objects to fly when there was another knock on the door.

"I think it's the Hogwarts party," said Arthur hopefully.

"About time," muttered Mundungus. Sirius couldn't help but agree.

Remus opened the door and Albus Dumbledore, Filius Flitwick, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape breezed in. The room suddenly felt a lot smaller.

Dumbledore didn't look around at all as he greeted everyone with a warm smile. Flitwick and McGonagall did the same (although Minerva's was less warm), although Sirius could have sworn he saw her eyes linger on Remus' end table for a few extra moments. Later, his theory was confirmed when she whispered in his ear, "When we're all gone, tell Remus that his table is excellent work."

Snape cast a haughty eye on everything he saw, and Sirius would have punched him in the mouth if he'd said anything. Thankfully for the snake, he kept his mouth shut and only sneered when he saw something especially to his dislike. Sirius smirked when Snap failed to notice anything odd about the end table.

Snap saw Sirius and bared his teeth in an almost unconscious expression of hatred. Sirius returned the grimace, and their eyes met in mutual distaste. How _dare_ that creep walk into Remus' home and wear that expression. He began to get up out of his seat so he could confront the bastard until a steady hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked over to see Remus down smiling at him wearily.

"Don't rise to him, Sirius. You're better than that."

Sirius still felt like getting up, but Remus' hand tightened, and he knew he had to be nice for Remus' sake. Wouldn't be considerate of him to splatter blood all over his walls, seeing as he was a guest and all.

"Sometimes, at Hogwarts, I would imagine how long it had been since he'd cleaned his underwear or washed his hair," said Remus, barely moving his lips, not even looking at Sirius. "But don't tell anyone I said that- I'm supposed to be the responsible one."

Sirius laughed, partly because he found it amusing that that was Remus' idea of a dirty secret.

Suddenly, a strange noise emenated from the front of the room. When they looked it seemed to be Dumbledore clanging one of Molly's cookies against a wine glass he had procured out of nowhere. Sirius idly wondered why the noise was so _loud._

"I thank all of you for coming today," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "It cheers me to think that so many noble wizards have joined the cause and believe the truth- that Voldemort has returned."

A ripple of assention passed through the group of adults before they were silent again. Emmeline Vance in particular seemed to agree, nodding her head emphatically.

Dumbledore nodded towards Lupin and said, "Many thanks to Remus for allowing us to use his apartment for our first gathering. We will have to make do where we can until we have a permanent residence."

Lupin turned red and fixed his gaze on the ground- even twelve years hadn't robbed him of that particular trait. Everyone glanced at him, trying to be subtle, and then looked away quickly. Ah, adulthood.

The meeting got very serious very quickly, and no one had time to gossip about Remus, so the rest of the meeting with without a hitch, and even Snape helped himself to a cookie or two.

When the meeting ended, Dumbledore ushered everyone oout the front door, not giving them the chance to Floo out. When they were gone, it was just Sirius, Remus, the Howarts professors, and the Weasleys. Remus ran his hand through his graying hair and looked at the mess his place was in. He didn't say anything about it. Remus never would.

"I think that went well," said Dumbledore cheerfully.

McGonagall clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Yes and no. It's still hard to adjust to the thought that You-Know-Who's back."

"He is..." snarled Snape. "Whether the Ministry believes it or not."

"Um,' said Remus quietly. "I know this is an important discussion, but would you mind having it back at Hogwarts? I have some cleaning up to do."

Snape looked about ready to say something before Molly spoke up first. "It really _was_ nice meeting you, Mr. Lupin. I'm sorry for...for doubting you."

Remus' smile was genuine. "Call me Remus. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. The Order, after all."

The Weasleys left, Arthur babbling excitedly about getting to use a Muggle taxi. Flitwick, McGonagall, and Snape turned to leave. Dumbledore only said one things before joining them.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this today, Remus. I wanted to make sure that all my members were good people."

"You wanted to make sure they wouldn't react badly to being in a werewolf's shabby house?" said Remus calmly.

"No, no," refuted Dumbledore. "I just know that you're a good judge of character."

With that, he left, leaving a dumbfounded Remus and an annoyed Sirius behind him.

"You had it right the first time, you know. Merlin, he's manipulative."

"Yeah...I know."

Remus wrenched open his closet door and let everything fall out. He kicked the pile apprehensively.

Sirius went into the kitchen and came out holding a plate of cookies. "Want one? Molly left them for you."

Remus hesitated, then smiled. "Don't mind if I do."

They sat on the sagging sofa and each ate two or three cookies, Sirius letting his head rest against Remus' shoulder. It may not have been like the old days, but that didn't mean it was bad.

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Reviews are love! :)


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